


Through The Eyes of A Child

by belalmys



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-15 23:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11816145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belalmys/pseuds/belalmys
Summary: Madi always thought it was funny. Sure, she was only twelve but she was smart. Plus, she’d seen a lot of romantic movies, thank you very much, so she was pretty much an expert on the topic. She thinks maybe the trope of a young boy being mean to you because he likes you may have even stemmed from them. Clarke and Bellamy were kind of like that – or at least they liked to pretend that they were.Or the one where Madi is Clarke's adopted little sister and she witnesses the little things Bellamy and Clarke do around each other without really noticing.





	Through The Eyes of A Child

                Madi always thought it was funny. Sure, she was only twelve but she was smart. Plus, she’d seen a lot of romantic movies, _thank you very much_ , so she was pretty much an expert on the topic. The two of them always reminded her of the couple from the movies that didn’t like each other very much at the beginning. The ones who poked and prodded each other to the point of looks of disapproval from their friends and family. She thinks maybe the trope of a young boy being mean to you because he likes you may have even stemmed from them. Clarke and Bellamy were kind of like that – or at least they liked to pretend that they were.

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                When she was eight, Clarke had adopted Madi as her younger sister through a program connected to her high school. The blonde was fifteen and Madi didn’t like her very much. Clarke was bossy and liked to get her way and Madi was, well, _eight._ They clashed a lot and at one point she was almost sure Clarke was going to quit.

But after two days, she came back. She told Maddi a story of how a friend had talked some sense into her. Bellamy, she called him. And Madi had never seen her eyes light up so much from another topic as she did this one.

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                For her ninth birthday, Madi wanted nothing more than to go to Disneyland. She knew it was impossible – she was only a foster kid after all; one of many. There was no way she could afford it on her own and “if we send you, we have to send everyone,” was a bitter mantra that echoed in her head, in none other than the voice of her house father, Jaha. So when Clarke arrived that morning with a cupcake and a smile, she didn’t expect much. With a promise of a good day, Madi was grumbly and climbed into the back of a black Range Rover begrudgingly.

               She’s so busy looking at the leather interior – it was the nicest car she’d ever been in, _okay_ – that she never noticed Clarke climb into the passenger seat. Her eyebrows had knitted together so tightly they almost met in the middle, her mouth opening to ask why but she never gets the chance. Her eyes instead caught on a tanned arm that reached through the window and unlocked the car from the inside and for a moment, her adrenaline had spiked; she had memories tied in with faceless limbs, the reason she was a foster child in the first place. Her eyes darted to Clarke and she almost reached out, but the smile on the older girls face told her there was no reason to worry.

               “Did you –“

               “Two sugars and a dash of cream, I know.”

 _Bellamy._ Madi’s silent as Clarke beamed at him and a second later he’s turning around and introducing herself. His smile is warm and crooked and he held out a wrapped gift that Madi only took moments to snatch to herself. She’s shy, biting her lip as she looks up at the older man. And when her finger wriggles underneath the gift paper to try and get it undone without ruining it, he stops her with a gentle hand on her wrist. He makes her promise not to open it until they get there and she doesn’t.

               Disneyland. Apparently, it had been Bellamy’s idea. He had a sister just a year younger than Clarke who loved Disneyland when they had the funds to go. Madi’s ecstatic and rips open her gift without even thinking, revealing a pair of ears with her name stitched on them. She plopped the hat on her head and she doesn’t think she’s ever been that happy. But Clarke’s smile outshines the both of them combined. It’s a good day and Clarke and Bellamy kind of remind her of some of the princes and princess’ she watches movies about. But the better ones, like Belle and the Beast. Because they argue a lot but his hand never leaves her shoulder and when Clarke’s back is turned, Bellamy shoots Madi a wink and a grin and elicits a giggle from her that she hadn’t made in ages.

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               Madi doesn’t expect much for Christmas the next year. She was lonely, a lot of her friends had been adopted and she was alone in the big foster house. The floors were cold and concrete and there were no decorations around – something about not wanting to disrespect the new girl who had come in because her religion didn’t allow her to celebrate holidays. She’s drawing when the Griffin-Kane’s show up.

               Abby has an armful of gifts and Marcus has a coat and a scarf. Clarke has Bellamy by the hand and a cup of hot cocoa. They’d gotten permission for her to stay with them for the holidays. Ten days at a real house where they’d make cookies and string popcorn and sing carols, Abby had promised. Marcus had slung the jacket over Madi’s shoulders and wrapped the scarf around her neck so many times that all that was visible were her young brown eyes. Madi huffs and blows the hair out of her face and they all have a loud laugh before leaving together.

               And they did make cookies and string popcorn and sing carols. Madi got more gifts than she’s ever gotten in her ten combined years of living. Coloring books and pencils from Clarke - a perfect gift for a ten year old girl, she says -, books and socks from Bellamy - he really did try -, a cell phone from Abby – “so you can keep in touch with us” – and an offer from the entire family.

               They’d like to adopt her, they’d told her. Abby had looked hopeful, half in Marcus’ lap, her fingers laced together in her lap so tightly that Madi could see the white around her knuckles. Marcus was anxious too, his knee bouncing – that is until Madi watches a fraction of a second too long and he self-consciously stops. But Clarke’s expression was the one Madi was most nervous to see. But when she looks over, she finds the blonde – the girl who could be her sister – crying. Silent tears stream down her face and Madi at first thinks they’re negative. Maybe Clarke didn’t want to share her life with Madi. Maybe seeing her a few times a week was all she could take. But then Clarke reaches out and grabs her hand, laces their fingers together, and before she can even process the information, she’s nodded yes.

               They all cheer and drink egg nog and maybe cry a little too. And later that night, when Bellamy gets up to leave, Madi tugs on his sleeve. He kneels to her level and before he can say anything, she’s hugging him too. “You’re kind of like my brother now,” she whispers into his shoulder.

               Minutes later when he stands up, his gaze casts on Clarke who’s sitting by the fire, hair illuminated by the light to resemble a halo around her head. “Yeah, kind of,” he murmured, so quiet that Madi was almost sure she imagined it. His fingers ruffle her hair and when Clarke comes over a second later to walk him out, Madi takes it as an opportunity to go see her new room. But when she peeks out the window, she sees Clarke press a kiss to the tanner boys cheek, shifting onto her tiptoes to reach, and realizes that there’s no mistletoe outside. And that she’s never seen someone in the cold look as warm as Bellamy did in that moment.

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                Clarke’s eighteenth birthday was… Stressful to say the least. Their mom and her step dad wanted the absolute best for her – wouldn’t accept anything less. And Clarke was being a _princess_ about it, as Bellamy liked to remind her every time she opened her mouth. Their large house had been completely decorated from ceiling to wood floor with black and white and Clarke had invited exactly 100 people over for a day of swimming and barbecuing.

Of course, Madi was too young to understand what was fully happening as she watched girls behind the shed pour water from a large glass bottle into red cups. And she didn’t understand why boys kept whispering to each other in huddles as they watched the girls swim. One of Clarke’s friends Raven had eventually led her away from the group and instead back to the adults. Abby had accepted her with a sympathetic, thankful smile.

                The day passed rather uneventfully, despite the festivities. At one point, Clarke was stumbling around and it made Madi laugh, not quite understanding the implications behind her sloshed movements and slurred words. Boys liked Clarke, especially the short one with floppy brown hair. He was hanging all over her all night and everyone kept tossing comments like “get a room” at them, which Madi didn’t get. They were all wet from the pool; they had to dry off before going inside, didn’t they?

                Day turned to night and Clarke continued to get more funny; at one point, Madi had laughed so hard she’d had tears streaming down her cheeks and an aching feeling in her tummy. At some point, her mom and dad had decided to head upstairs, trusting Bellamy to keep everyone in check; he was five years Clarke’s senior, after all. Around midnight, everyone had pittered out for the most part, leaving only the three of them and the boy with the floppy hair. _Finn,_ Madi heard Clarke call him as the two of them stumbled down the stairs and into the basement.

                Now, Madi was only eleven but she prided herself in being able to gauge situations pretty well. Which is why she knew by the sinking feeling in her stomach that something was wrong with the way Finn had his arm wrapped around Clarke’s arm as they disappeared. The brunette looks around, contemplates going after them, but decides against it, instead heading off to look for Bellamy. He’s in the backyard cleaning up red solo cups off the grass and Madi hesitates before walking over to him, her fingers curling around the sleeve of his black hoodie.

                “Bell.”

                His eyes caught hers gently – he was tired, she could tell – and searched her face for an indication of what she may need. Madi wasn’t sure what to say. After all – nothing was happening. She just… Felt it. “I think…”

                With a glance over her shoulder, she can feel Bellamy grow rigid beneath her fingers. “There’s… Clarke. Something’s not right.” For a minute, she almost thought he might laugh in her face. But Bellamy wasn’t like that and Madi wasn’t the type to make things up, which is how she finds the two of them on their way down the stairs before she even has a second to blink. She thinks Bellamy must have forgotten she was there until he stops her right outside the basement door, braces two hands on her shoulders and tells her to stay put, then closes the hard wood right in her face.

                There’s a scuffle, a shout – Bellamy’s – followed by a gasp and a grunt and a minute later Finn is ripping open the door, his hand cradling his nose that’s got blood flowing from it like a waterfall. Madi catches a glimpse of Bellamy lifting his arms, pulling off his hoodie and slipping it on Clarke’s stark body before she turns around, runs up the stairs and disappears into her room. Clarke had Bellamy. She was okay and she was safe, and with that thought Madi falls into a slumber not as deep as she would have liked.

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                Madi isn’t sure when they started kissing. She thinks it was sometime after Clarke’s birthday but she can’t be sure; she thinks it was longer than they would’ve liked to admit.

                It started with forehead kisses, lips pressed to noses and ears; it started with Clarke’s giggles and Bellamy’s grins and intertwined fingers. And no one seems surprised. Not mom or dad, not Raven when she comes over and finds the two of them curled up on the couch. Not Clarke’s friends Monty and Jasper who grab Madi and burst into a chorus of “Bellamy and Clarke, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” that leaves Madi giggling so hard she has to clutch her stomach and duck to get away from the two of them. And certainly not Bellamy’s sister Octavia who shouts “ _it’s about time!”_ loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.

                Eventually the kisses turn to lip kisses, something that makes Madi’s twelve-year-old mind go _ewww_ before she can stop it. One day she says it out loud and Bellamy laughs so loud she swears she feels the ceilings shake. “You’re telling me,” he mumbles as he muses up her hair and Clarke pouts and noses into his side.

                Bellamy isn’t just Clarke’s best friend anymore, he’s her boyfriend, she whispers under the blankets late at night after she crawls into Madi’s bed, grinning and elated. Madi thinks the only time she’s ever seen her this happy is the day they finally adopted her. (She’s smug about it but also happy for her sister).

                Madi isn’t sure when it happened but Bellamy’s _princess_ nickname starts sounding less sarcastic. Their conversations turn less teasing and more… Well, Madi can’t quite explain it but they stop reminding her so much of Belle and the Beast and instead are more like Ariel and Eric (they’re her favorites).

                Most days Bellamy comes over he spends the entire day there and he did that before but it’s different now and everyone knows it. Clarke’s nineteen and she’s happy and Madi looks up to her. Wants her life to be that way one day. And though the idea of dating still grosses her out, she knows one day she’ll want to and she hopes she finds a love like Bellamy and Clarke.

                She falls asleep most nights to a happy silence but tonight is different. Clarke is giggling in the kitchen downstairs and Madi crawls out of bed and to the top of the staircase. She can’t see anything but the light from the kitchen but she can hear the two of them laughing, shushing each other and mumbling how everyone’s sleeping. And she hears Bellamy say he loves her, has always loved her, and Clarke giggles again and Madi smiles.

She falls asleep that night to the sound of hushed giggles and Bellamy mumbling his love for Clarke over and over again. Clarke and Bellamy were always like that – they just liked to pretend like they weren’t.

               

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me spontaneously in class and I wrote half of it in my notebook and the rest when I got home. I hope you like it because I really enjoyed writing it. Comments and kudos are always appreciated!!


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